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Poll: The masses of Rhythm and Alps revellers packed up their camps yesterday after the two-day event, which has been hailed a success by organisers and police.

Almost 10,000 people celebrated the new year in style during the event, which boasted top New Zealand and international artists Shapeshifter, Bulletproof, The Funk Hunters and British electronic music quartet Rudimental.

Event co-founder Hamish Pinkham, who started Rhythm and Vines in Gisborne 10 years ago, said moving the festival from near Methven to the Cardrona Valley "has definitely paid off".

"The Southern Lakes Region has a lot to offer visitors and as a result the festival has grown from the 3000 people we had on site last year to the 10,000 we had on site for this year's event," Mr Pinkham said.

"We've learnt some things from the move, and are looking forward to making next year's event stronger than ever," he said.

Feedback from the artists performing at the event was positive. "They all loved the warm reception from the locals."

Sergeant Aaron Nicholson, of Wanaka, said everyone taking part in the event had been well behaved and there were no arrests.

"There was a huge number of people which had the potential for a large amount of disorder," Mr Nicholson said. "We were very pleased with the crowd behaviour."

Senior Sergeant Allan Grindell said nine people were arrested in Wanaka for a range of charges including disorderly behaviour, obstruction and assault.

About 4000 gathered in the town to celebrate the new year and "generally the crowd was pretty well behaved".